Hall's Harley-Davidson celebrates 50 years in business

Publish Date:

Nov 15, 2012

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – When Stan and Pat Hall started out 50 years ago, they had a small shop selling and fixing motorcycles and Schwinn bicycles. Wednesday, they planted a new flag outside Hall’s Harley-Davidson to make a half-century in business. The couple erected a new illuminated flagpole on one side of the 43,000 sq. ft., two-story business they’ve built.

The business employed nine people 20 years ago and now has 21 employees, plus nine more at a sister dealership in town. The percentage of female customers has grown from 1 percent to about 30 percent over that time. In 1974, the Halls added Husqvarna dirt bikes to the mix, and later Ducati. Those bikes sell at nearby Hall’s Cycles. The Harley dealership moved to its present facility in 2003.

Stan Hall ruminates about the changes in the industry over the years: “It used to be that if you couldn’t afford a car, you bought a motorcycle,” he told the State Journal-Register. “Now it’s turned around. You can start at $7,000 to $7,500, but you can spend $35,000 on a top-of-the line, factory-custom bike with everything on it.”